Ho-ho-hottest Android news and rumors for week ending Dec. 21

It's awfully hard not to start this with a holiday joke of some sort, but I'll do my best - it helps that the biggest Android news of the week isn't particularly cheery, what with the botnets and security breaches and all. We'll get all holly-jolly when we talk CES predictions and phone rumors later on.

Yes, unfortunately, security has reared its ugly head as we roar into the festive season, with the news that a number of popular Samsung devices can be completely hijacked by malicious apps, thanks to a configuration error affecting their Exynos 4210 and 4412 processors.

Copyright 2016 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited.